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Gong
'Gong '''is a Franco-British rock band formed by Australian musician Daevid Allen (1938-2015). Gong was formed in 1967, after Allen—then a member of Soft Machine—was denied re-entry to the United Kingdom because of a visa complication. Allen remained in France where he and a London-born Sorbonne professor, Gilli Smyth, established the first incarnation of the band. The Gong mythology contains many similarities to concepts from Buddhist belief, e.g. the search for self, the denial of absolute reality and the search for the path to enlightenment. The story should not be trivialised as mere hippy dreaming – except that in true Gong style neither should it be venerated as any sort of lore. (Read more at Wikipedia) Links to Peel Although Peel's distaste for so-called "prog rock" was well known, he was known to like bands with an experimental approach. In the first half of the 1970s, bands like Gong and other European groups such as Wigwam, Burnin Red Ivanhoe, Magma and Krautrock pioneers like Can, Faust, and Neu! were regularly featured in the playlists of his shows. Gong, led by Daevid Allen, had the kind of post-hippyish eccentricity which appealed to him; they performed at the 1971 Glastonbury Fayre, which Peel also attended. After tracks from their first LPs for the BYG Actuel label were played on his shows, Richard Branson's Virgin Records imported copies of the albums from France to sell in their shops and by mail-order, before signing the band to the Virgin label - and, famously, reissuing the 1971 ''Camembert Electrique ''LP in 1974 at a bargain price - 49p. Gong's ''Flying Teapot album was one of the three LPs given by Branson to Peel in late May 1973 as the initial batch of releases on Virgin records, the other two being Mike Oldfield's Tubular Bells and the Manor Live jam session LP.Cavanagh D., Good Night and Good Riddance (ed.2015, pp.140-141) A few days after, Peel played 'Radio Gnome Invisible' from the Gong LP during the first half of his show, although greater emphasis was famously given to to side one of Tubular Bells, ''with 'Part One' played in its entirety. Gong perhaps gained the upper hand, however, by having recorded a session for Peel that same day, broadcast a couple of weeks later. Among the band's shifting lineup, guitarist Steve Hillage also did Peel sessions with National Health and Orb, as well as recording successful albums in his own right. In the early 1990s, he returned to Peel's playlists with ambient dance outfit System 7. Sessions *Three sessions. Officially released on "Pre-Modernist Wireless: The Peel Sessions " (Strange Fruit, 1995) 1. Recorded: 1971-09-11. First broadcast: 17 November 1971. *Magick Brother / Clarence in Wonderland / Tropical Fish/Selene 2. Recorded: 1973-05-29. First Broadcast: 12 June 1973. Repeated: 02 October 1973 *You Can't Kill Me / Radio Gnome Direct Broadcast/Crystal Machine / Zero The Hero and the Orgasm Witch 3. Recorded: 1974-01-15. First Broadcast: 29 January 1974. *Captain Capricorns Dream Saloon/Radio Gnome Invisible / Oily Way Other Shows Played (Please add more information if known) ;1972 *13 June 1972: Tried So Hard (LP – Camembert Electrique) BYG *11 July 1972: Radio Gnome (LP – Camembert Electrique) Byg Actuel *11 July 1972: You Can't Kill Me (LP – Camembert Electrique) Byg Actuel ;1973 *29 May 1973: Radio Gnome Invisible (LP – Flying Teapot (Radio Gnome Invisible Part 1)) Virgin ;1976 *17 August 1976: 5 & 20 Schoolgirls (album - Magick Brother) BYG 529.305 *17 August 1976: Sold To The Highest Buddha (album - Angel's Egg (Radio Gnome Invisible Part 2)) Virgin V2007 *17 August 1976: Children Of The New World (LP - Good Morning) Virgin (''Daevid Allen & Euterpe) ;1977 *30 August 1977: 'Flying Teapot (2xLP-Live Etc.)' (Virgin) ;1978 *06 March 1978: Boring (LP - Expresso II) Virgin ;1999 *22 April 1999: Mister Long Shanks: O Mother, I Am Your Fantasy (LP: Camembert Electrique) BYG ;Radio Luxembourg Tracklistings *Radio Luxembourg Tracklistings 6: Dynamite (LP – Camembert Electrique) Byg Actuel (released in France in 1971; re-released in 1974 by Virgin in the UK, for 49p) *Radio Luxembourg Tracklistings 6:I Am Your Animal (LP – Camembert Electrique) Byg Actuel *Radio Luxembourg Tracklistings 6:Wet Cheese Delinium (LP – Camembert Electrique) Byg Actuel See Also *Soft Machine *Pierre Moerlen's Gong External Links *Wikipedia *Official site Notes Category:Artists